Flight Path Ditching of U.S. Airways Fight 1549, Airbus A320, N106US, in the Hudson River

[@kentreg1]

Outstanding ATC. Both NY Dept and TEB. Well done.

[@BenDover-wm7wf]

To those who think Sully made poor decisions, consider that (a) this is one of the most congested airspaces in the country with three major international airports in relatively close proximity plus regional airports like Teterboro-this wasn’t happening over a cornfield. (b) the ground controllers could not see what Sully could see in the way of buildings and densely-populated neighborhoods on any vector back to LGA or to Teterboro, and ergo the high potential for massive loss of life not only of his passengers, but potentially hundreds more on the ground in a horrific inferno being that they had a full load of fuel and no time to dump it. And (c) no backseat pilot-even a commercial pilot, knows how they would react nor what they’re going to do until they’re in that situation with scant seconds to make critical decisions with huge potential consequences on the line. Sully knew the characteristics of the Airbus A320 probably as well as (if not better) than anyone else, and he determined he could not safely land the plan on any available runway. I would sooner have a former fighter pilot in the captain’s seat than someone whose only experience handling split-second decision-making was in a simulator. Those people on board owe their lives to him and they all know it. And it is possible that hundreds of residents of Queens or of densely-populated neighborhoods in New Jersey owe their lives to him but don’t know it.

[@mostlyvoid.partiallystars]

That glide into the river is just magnificent. Good on that crew and ATC for saving lives.

[@J-Justice666]

Bravo Zulu landing by captain Sully. If the Hudson would have been a hard runway the aircraft would have been reusable after replacement of the engines (and a few seats in the back, if you know what I mean.). Beautiful landing, Captain. As mentioned by other commenters, hundreds and possibly thousands of people on the ground owe their lives to Sully's handiwork that day and don't even know it. Thanks to Jeff Skiles, the flight crew, and all the responders who pulled everybody to safety so quickly. These are the people that make our country great.

[@kentreg1]

Sully's book is a good read fyi. He did two things that made the difference here. Started the APU and never let go of the Hudson. He knew that's where he'd end up. Cheers.

[@louisvilleslugger3979]

Amazingly how the fuselage remained intact, landed rather gracefully, and no one was killed :)

[@thetessellater9163]

How urgent decision making is done and executed - superb job.

[@gregorymatter4271]

Just how calm the pilots are able to be is amazing to me

[@joewhite2416]

This was actually more similar to the movie than I thought it would be

[@Milnoc]

It was likely the only part of the movie that was realistic in any way. The way the NTSB was portrayed in the movie was a total fabrication added by Opie Cunningham for "dramatic effect."

[@megawave79]

yes. except for the drama. Like the ones against NTSB and making the scene of whats happening in the cockpit more dramatized

[@TheBlackdragon936]

Smartest thing was to put it in the water if he couldn't make it anywhere else. Great Captain.

[@peterbattensby6950]

No one in there right mind wan't to ditch in the water, Sully made the right choice and saved everyone on board.

[@shannoncarlson6960]

That happened so fast. Great job!

[@chriswatson2407]

Almost in tears watching this. Bloody amazing job will done for both guys. Thank you.

[@Vxllain]

And to think this happened over 11 years ago already...

[@vlonevogue6373]

On January 15, 2009, A US Airways Flight 1549 took off from New York City's LaGuardia Airport at 3:25 PM. 2 minutes after takeoff, the plane was struck by a flock of birds. Upon realizing the plane had lost all engine power, and it will not be able to reach any airport in time. The pilot command, Chesley Sullenberger landed the plane on the Hudson River, saving the lives of everyone on board, The incident came to be known as the Miracle on the Hudson.

[@Bcananzey]

just amazing flying

[@POLARISIngrosso]

They investigated Sully and told him that in the flight simulator the test pilots were able to make it back to La Guardia. Sure but the test pilots knew exactly what what was going to happen, and that they were to try and head back. Sully and his co pilot didn't. The plane ditched 3 and a half minutes after the bird strike , so just 1 min lost trying to figure out what happened , how bad the damage was , and what to do next as per the emergency manual , made all the difference in the world. Sully was a pro and when he said we won't make it , he had one eye on the altimeter and saw how fast they were sinking , after a lifetime spent bringing down jets of all sizes he relied on his instincts to calculate how much gliding distance they had left, based on how fast the hands in the altimeter were rewinding . He also instinctively calculated that flaps 2 was the optimal setting in that situation . If he had opted for four the airbus would have probably gone nose first into the Hudson. I hate to say this , but if there was a less experienced pilot in that cockpit this could have ended VERY badly.

[@singlepayer]

Incredible

[@robertgift]

Does ATC have numbers of Coast Guard and other emergency services so that they can be called to respond?

[@kd4pba]

YES, I am not sure i would say numbers, they just basically pick up a direct line just like when he talked to the other airport. A LOT changed after 9/11

[@francisflood8921]

WOW!!!!!

[@danielirimia8386]

Was it an Airbus 320?

[@fawwazbmn]

Yes

[@scooteria6282]

Yes. Either an a320-211 or -214

[@markrpope3]

you would never be able to submit this animation as evidence in a quart room because the admittedly selectively chose what conversation to include which means they chose what to exclude it’s what they excluded that is more telling the fact that they chose to exclude anything that made Sully look bad. proves this whole investigation was just for show. they knew he was a hero Before they ever first got him to sit down for an interview and they admit that they gave him deference because of that. their hands were tied from the beginning. there was no way they could point out anything he did wrong

[@howardkim3542]

quart

[@markrpope3]

The NTSB designed the simulator test to fail and downplayed all the attempts that were sucessful. also keep in mind that the people performing the actual flying were fellow pilots who knew that if they were successful it would make Sully look bad. I have yet to read one single critical comment by a fellow pilot about Sully . I have read many comments by pilots critical of people criticizing stupid fatal actions by pilots that crashed other planes on the NTSB KZbin channel . The NTSB even seems to have left out the one that was sucessful even with a required 15 second delay like Sully delayed and despite over running the turn to the airport. these were fellow pilots doing this simulator test and they had no incentive to make another pilot look bad. that pilot even commented no crew would turn that soon but Sully did so there’s real world conditions proving them wrong. birds of a feather flock together you know. Looked at the data from the NTSB simulator tests. All 4 attempts to land at La Guardia’s runway 13 immediately after birdstrike were successful. Sully said he was turning back to LaGuardia about 15 seconds after birdstrike so he could have made it. The NTSB only allowed one failed attempt to land at LaGuardia after an arbitrary required 35 second delay before allowing pilots to return to LaGuardia. Pilots who were told to land in runway 22 were only sucessful 2 out of six times but some just ditched in the water next to LaGuardia. Water’s water. Most pilots commented that the simulator graphics made it harder to land than the real airport in broad daylight would. Sully did not have that problem. Even at the NTSB hearing it was commented that it’s much harder to judge how high you are over things like the wide, non discript salt flats of Edwards Air Force Base and over water Which is another reason why it’s better to land on the runway. He could still have ditched in the water next to LaGuardia if he didn’t make it. I don’t understand why he didn’t just continue with his original alleged plan to turn back to LaGuardia if he had just done that it’s been proven he would’ve made it as long as he went for runway 13 which she obviously was setting up for. They should’ve ran a test with the pilots starting at the same altitude location as sally was at after he first turned left instead of making them start back where the birdstrike was and wait 35 seconds before returning ti LAG. where were they when the 35 seconds was up? If it was nowhere near where Sully’s flightpath was then it was a rigged test designed to fail by tying one hand behind their back.

[@jamesseven1487]

🤣🤣 I can't stop laughing at your drivel. You're not a pilot, and have zero understanding of an emergency, and more to the point, a little thing called 'Human Factors'. He doesn't need 'permission to turn' in an emergency, the Captain can do whatever he wants, and ATC clear a path for the aircraft. 40 years of experience and consequent instinct meant every body lived.

[@markrpope3]

if all you watch is this version of the Animation instead of reading the transcript of the CVR you won’t know that Sully had been chitchatting about the Hudson being beautiful while they were taking off. This is against the rules but it explains why you had the Hudson on his brain and explains Why that was his first choice. he never says I am returning to LaGuardia, he says I am turning toward LaGuardia. I am no pilot but it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see that to get lined up with the safest runway at LaGuardia, The same one he took off from and the only one that you could land at without going over buildings instead of just water for the last mile, he shoukd have turned right, not left. The same runway he just took off from and the only one that you could land at without going over buildings instead of just water for the last mile he should’ve been turning right not left why did he turn to the left before he was even told her to turn to the left by the ATC?

[@davidclark2175]

You can't just head back to the airport with other flight traffic in the air,,,,,and I'm sure he was engaged in trying to restart the engines most of all

[@cityuser]

The difference in distance between turning right to RWY 22 and turning left to RWY 13 is negligible.

[@trekkiexb5]

procedures. That is why he did not return to LaGuardia right away. They were trying to restart the engines, which is procedure. Later it would find that the procedure checklist was for like 15k in the sky, not after takeoff. If they were to start one engine, they could have climbed and landed at whatever field they wanted but they had NO ENGINES. Therefore an one of the most densely packed cities in the world, and having no ability to climb over the buildings, he made a choice to save as many lives as he could. Actually, him being a glider pilot I think helped alot in this situation.

[@markrpope3]

Sully started turning left before he was given permission. Why didn’t he turn right and land on the same runway he just took off from? Surely that would take the least amount if thinking to do that. we really need to make up our mind are we going to pat him on the back because he was so quick and decisive or are we going to say oh he couldn’t have landed at LaGuardia because in order to reach it simulator tests proved he would’ve had to have made an immediate decision without thinking it through. which is it? They can’t both be true. Why did he ask if Tetororo was available and pretend like he was considering landing there while he flew right past it? if you say he was just keeping his option to land in the Hudson open I would agree with you. he kept that option open for so long it became the only option he had . It was a lie to say it was the only option he had when he first started turning to the left after the birdstrike. why did he turn the left. we have no idea. no one’s ever asked him why he turned left before he was told to turn to the left. it was a lie to say was the only option he had when he first started turning to the left after the birdstrike why did he turn the left we have no idea no one‘s ever asked him why he turned left before he was told to turn to the left . The NTSB admitted they gave deference to him in their very first interview because he was already a hero as far as the media was concerned. He was given all softball questions because nobody was about to point out that the Emperor wears no clothes at this point. why did the NTSB say that he made the right decision when the simulator repeatedly showed that he could’ve made it back to LaGuardia? now they cover his ass by saying the pilots that made it had the benefit of hindsight. I’ve never been able to find the specifics about at what point in time you had to have decided to go to LaGuardia to make it. why is that a secret? why do we not get that data so we can see if the NTSB’s conclusions were correct? we don’t need the NTSB to decide for us whether he could’ve made it or not. all we need to know is exactly what time is the last possible time that the decision had to be made to make it look to LaGuardia. I would love to compare that time to when Sully Started turning to the left without permission. Clearly he had made a decision at that point to land in the Hudson. All you have to do is look at his flight path, not listen to what he says or doesn’t say, but look at his flight path. actually you can listen to what he says because he’s more honest then than he was later after he talked to attorneys and public relations firms. he hired a sophisticated California public relations firm right off the bat. he had experience with investigating crashes he knew what to say when to say it what not to say and how to stall until he came up with his story. The ATC was forced to stay 6 hours late to be interviewed the day it happened despite being emotional wreck for thinking earlier a plane under his control had crashed. Why wasn’t the pilot and copilot interviewed the same day when it’s fresh in their mind and before they had time to talk to lawyers and PR firms? We are supposed to believe that Sully and the copilot were able to communicate telepathically sent Sully claims that he and the copilot communicated nonverbally and agreed they had to land in the Hudson. I listen to a lot of cockpit voice recordings based on transcripts on air disaster docs and read transcripts of them too. This is the first time I’ve heard of a pilot and the first officer communicating telepathically. I don’t think the NTSB should approve of that form of communication because what if someone mis-reads your agreement with what they’re doing? why is it accepted as a good decision to land the Hudson when Sully says I didn’t know if I could make it to LaGuardia but he’s not questioned as to how he knew he could make it over the George Washington Bridge, how he knew there wouldn’t be any boats or ships in the way once he wanted and was forced to land in the Hudson? why is it assumed that he knew there would be a positive outcome to that? he was not even questioned about that. they careful he started questioning based on the CVR at the point after the birdstrike, intentionally jumping over the part where he was breaking rules by chitchatting during take off. well since he was chitchatting about how beautiful the Hudson was why would you skip over that part? I would be asking him is that how you decided to land in the Hudson because you had paid attention to it while taking off and you had a pretty good idea that they were the room to land without hitting boats and where the bridges were located at? such an obvious question but of course to ask it points out the fact that he was breaking the rules and they’re not about to do that to a hero So they don’t even ask them about that. if that is not evidence that there was no way at this point they’re going to find any fault with anything that he did then I don’t know what it is. Well for all of you lemmings who jumped on the Sally’s a hero bandwagon all I can say is there is a downside to this farce. trust me when the next plane crash happens and people are killed because the proper lessons were not learned from this crash I will be the first person to say I told you so.

[@johnobrien4108]

I’ve never seen a better example of “hindsight is 20/20” than your entire argument. You can’t reference simulator tests that were conducted after the fact to criticize somebodies decision. While it certainly may have been possible to make it back, that would require flying over populated areas. But of course you’ll just say “well then he could’ve just ditched in the water next to LaGuardia”. No. Look at the two bodies of water. The Hudson is long and straight, giving him essentially a massive runway with time to align his approach, gather his thoughts, and identify obstacles. The water around LaGuardia on the other hand is much smaller, extremely congested, and if he were setting up for a landing at LaGuardia and suddenly had to ditch into the water he likely would not have had time to react and prepare the plane for a water landing (such as retracting the gears, which is a critical step). You mentioned numerous times that you’re not a pilot and it’s pretty obvious mainly based on your insistence that he should’ve turned back towards the runway he took off from. This is universally known in aviation as a deadly maneuver which more often than not results in a loss of altitude and airspeed and eventually a stall. Were some pilots able to do it in the simulator? I’m sure they were; with the benefit of knowing what they were about to attempt. But history has shown that this maneuver usually ends in disaster, so your implication that it should be taught as a response to this situation is lunacy. Is it impossible for you to accept that there were multiple correct responses to this emergency, and given that nobody died sully clearly chose one of the correct ones?

[@Syclone0044]

John O'Brien This guy appears to be a crank. He posted the same rambling, bizarrely repetitive stream of consciousness 3 times in a row, each written slightly different. To the OP: you seem barely capable of operating a keyboard to enter a KZbin comment. I’m hardly going to put much stock in your conspiracy theories. PS: I hate “hero worship” just as a principle of mine, and I’m not some Sully fan boy either so don’t dismiss me thinking such things. EDIT: I spoke too soon. No less than FIVE (5!) rambling repetitive, yet unique, comments!

[@Niners4Lyphe]

I nominate Mark Pope to be my next pilot. He really knows his shyt!! lol

[@j10001]

So he didn’t need permission to turn the aircraft. He was the pilot in charge of the aircraft and it is 100% his responsibility to handle it. You learn this in your first ground school class. Yes he should coordinate with her tougher control, but they are not in charge of the aircraft. In fact, if you were a pilot, you would notice the point second after the birdstrike when Sully says “my aircraft“ and his copilot says “your aircraft“ which is how pilots hand over command of the aircraft. Every pilot is very conscious of who is in charge at all times.

[@markrpope3]

look at what Sully does and says before the landing, not what he says after spending three days avoiding an interview by the authorities while he consults lawyers ir PR firms. he is not to be believed the proof is all here . Sully never Had any intention of landing anywhere except in the Hudson. if you listen carefully air traffic controller made an assumption that he was going to try to go back to LaGuardia but actually what he said was heading back toward LaGuardia not to LaGuardia. if you look at his flight path he never intended to go to La Guardia or to Teterboro you never intend to go to LaGuardia he makes a beeline for the Hudson he was talking about the Hudson and when they took off when he was breaking the rules by chatting and sightseeing only supposed to be looking for things like birds you had a fixation with The Hudson. Fine he made a quick decision but if we’re going to determine whether was the right decision we need to base the flight simulator comparison on when he really made his decision not when he let the ATC know what his decision was. the simulator shoukd have the pilots turn ti the right as soon as he said “my aircraft”. he was clearly being deceptive about it. he didn’t even let the cabin crew know they were landing in water ever. I don’t know what could be more obvious that this guy was keeping this a secret? I’m not gonna second-guess what he was thinking and why he wasn’t more forthright with what his plans were. clearly he’s a liar because he made the public think that he consulted with the copilot on this decision. anyone who can read can look at the transcript of the CVR and see that he never consulted with the copilot so nobody can say he’s not a liar because clearly he is.

[@silvershocknicktail6638]

What absolute drivel. You're quite right when you say you're not a pilot.

[@westron007]

He was probably flying a standard departure procedure that publishes a left turn after departure.

[@thomaskirkpatrick3250]

You should pipe down. If you had spent time in fighter aircraft under pressure you would not be making this aimless speculation. I guessing you are about 18 yrs. old